5 th February 2013

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Senior School Team
2012 A Review
2013 Our Focus
At risk process
Senior School expectations
Exams and the GAT
ATAR’s – What are they?
Pathway Planning
Helping Students Achieve their best in year 12 – Miss Smith and Miss
Smyth
‘How to support my child through the VCE without becoming the enemy’, Elevate
Presentation

 Principal
 Assistant Principal
 Head of Senior School
 Senior Curriculum Manager
 Senior Program Manager
 Student Pathways Manager
 VCAL Coordinator
 VET Coordinator
 Year 12 Coordinator
 Year 11 Coordinator
 Year 10 Coordinator
Mr Wayne Terrill
Mr Keith Halge
Mr Jason De Araugo
Ms Jan Homsi
Mr Eden St James
Ms Neisha Macrae
Ms Jessica Stone
Ms Sandra Avellino
Ms Candice Smith & Ms Claire Smyth
Ms Emily Hawes & Ms Karen Jacobson
Ms Rachel Barney& Ms Naomi Muir

 Senior School Support
Educational Support
Ms Megan Penn
 Careers Support
 Attendance Officer
Ms Tanya Jizba
Ms Helga Pullin

 VCE Pass Rate: 96%
 Top ATAR score: 92.15 – 6 students received 90 or above
 115 students in 2012 cohort
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89 students put in a VTAC offer
71 received offers in the first round.
 All students who missed out applied directly to universities and have since received offers.

 Games Development (Monash University)
 Occupational Therapy (Deakin University)
 Science (University Of Melbourne)
 Education (P-12) (Victoria University)
 Building Design (Gordon Institute Of TAFE)
 Professional and Creative Writing (Deakin University)
 Aerospace Engineering (Monash University)
 Animal and Veterinary Biosciences (La Trobe University)
 Business Systems (University Of Ballarat/Melbourne Institute of Technology)
 Midwifery (Victoria University)
 Events (William Angliss Institute of TAFE)

 VCE/VCAL results
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Social, emotional development
Take ownership of their own learning environment
Supporting students into a positive destination post Year 12

2012:
 Deakin University exploring the campus and tips for Yr 12
 2 week Transition classes process
 Summer Homework
2013: This week students will take part in a range of activities designed to assist them with the challenges of the year:
 Year 12 Orientation camp (7 th and 8 th Feb) - University of Ballarat. They will take a number of tutorials delivered by both the senior school team and outside agencies:
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Motivational seminars
Study skills techniques
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Summarising and Note taking
ATAR Scores and Pathway Planning
Tribe Challenge

 Study skills and other workshops: will occur during spares
 It is expected that all year 12s will attend.
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Elevate Education workshop-
RACV Free to go -
WRICA careers expo
VIC Uni PPP
Ballarat camp
17th April P4
9 th
22
/ 10 nd th
May
May
RMIT / GAT information session- 24 th May P4
Year 12 Elevate 7th September P4
More to come…
 Trivia nights
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Monday 25 th March
End of term 3

 All senior school students are expected to come to class prepared
 Textbooks
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Workbooks
Charged Netbooks
 Senior School Students are all expected to be in complete school uniform. (refer to page 28 in the Parent Handbook)
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Significantly out of uniform
Footwear
 It is an expectation that all students will complete 3 hours of homework a day
(homework is revising, not finalizing work not completed during the day).

 Meeting deadlines: all students will need to submit both coursework and SACs by the date set by the teacher. (Refer to page 17 of the Parent Handbook)
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SAC dates are available from a SAC calendar from Mr St James
If a student requires additional time they must approach the teacher of that class OR the senior school PRIOR to the due date and complete an ‘request for extension of time’ form – extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances

 Senior Students are expected to attend a minimum of 90% of all classes (refer to page 23 of the parent handbook)
 If Absent when sitting a SAC VCAA requires a medical certificate to be provided.
 Authentication: All VCE and VCAL students sign a document at the beginning of the year stating that all work submitted will be their own (refer to page 20 of the parent handbook).

 Students doing VCE will sit exams set by VCAA
 All students enrolled in Unit 3 / 4 studies must also undertake the General Achievement Test (GAT)
 GAT Wednesday 12 th June (12 th and 13 th )
 End of Year Exams Wednesday 30 th October to Friday 22 nd
November.

In 2013, a student in Year 12 will begin the ‘At Risk’ process once they fall behind in coursework in one of their subjects or fail (less than 50%) a SAC / SAT.
The classroom teacher will notify the coordinators when they are concerned about a student and either the classroom teacher or the coordinators will contact home. If the student does not complete the work an ‘At
Risk’ form will be sent out to notify both the Senior
School and Parents and Guardians of the incomplete work.
See page 18 of the Parent Handbook

 Once a student becomes ‘At Risk’ they will have to…
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Attend Homework club on a Wednesday or work after school on a Friday in B3
Stay in B3 during all their study periods to complete the work
Come in before school to complete SACs or necessary coursework
Ask the Classroom teacher to sign the ‘At Risk’ form once all the required work is completed

During Year 12 in both VCAL and VCE, there are other ways for a student to become ‘At Risk’.
 Absence - makes it difficult for teachers to authenticate the work that the student completes
 Lateness – students continually missing substantial periods of time from their lessons
See page 20 of the Parent Handbook

If a student continues to fail to submit the required coursework from the ‘At Risk’ form then the classroom teacher will have no option but to fail that student from their class therefore placing their VCE/VCAL at risk.
Ms Smith or Ms Smyth will organise meetings with students and their families to discuss the consequences of failing a subject in Year 12.
See page 19 of the Parent Handbook

 Prior to the end of year exam students will sit practice exams either in class or during their spares.
 Students will receive feedback from their teachers and a report will be generated for the end of year practice exams and sent home.
 There are many lectures prior to exams
 During the term breaks and in particular the September
Holidays teachers will be running exam preparation days with an expectation that students will attend.

 All students attempting a Year 12 VCE subject in 2013 are required to sit the GAT
 The GAT will take place for all Victorian students on
Wednesday 12th of June at 10.00 am
 The test will run for three hours with fifteen minutes reading time.

 It is a good predictor of student performance
 If a student does not perform as the GAT result predicts,
VCAA may re-mark particular exams that contradict the expected result:
 On the basis of this re-marking, a student’s score can only be adjusted UPWARDS.
 In short, the process can only advantage the student.

 The answer to this is an emphatic… YES!
 It is vital that each students GAT result reflects their ability as a student.
 The GAT is the insurance policy against the unforeseeable
 If VCAA have to estimate results it is better to have them based on your best effort rather than a “who cares?” approach.

Based on:
 English
 Next 3 best subjects
 10% increments of any extra subjects

SUBJECT
1. English C+,B,B 29
2. Health and Human Development B+,B+,C+ 30
3. Biology C+,C+C 28
4. Further Maths
5. Physical Education
RESULTS VCE STUDY SCORE ATAR SUBJECT SCORE
B,B,C
C+,C,C
30
24
27 +
25 +
28 +
27 +
22 (2.2) =
Aggregate Score
ATAR Score
109.2
55.00

SUBJECT
1. English
2. Further Maths
3. Psychology
4. Accounting
5. Media Studies
6. VCD
RESULTS
A+,A+,A+
A+,A+,A+
B+,A+,A+
A+,A+,A
B+,A+,C+
A,A+,B
VCE STUDY SCORE
45
42
40
41
33
36
ATAR SUBJECT SCORE
45 +
41 +
39 +
42 +
30 (3.0) +
32 (3.2) =
Aggregate Score
ATAR Score
173.2
95.00

 To provide a successful pathway from school to further education, training or employment.
 To provide students with a range of opportunities to support the development of a pathway plan.
 To support and encourage students to make the best possible choices for their future.

 University
 TAFE
 Apprenticeship/Traineeship
 Employment

 Pathway planning forms – outlining interests and aspirations
 Year 12 Orientation at University of Ballarat & Deakin
University late 2012
 Course counselling – researching and understanding options for 2014 and beyond

 WRICA Careers Expo – obtaining information from a range of
University, TAFE, private institutions and employment providers – 9 / 10 th May Period 2-3
 Exam preparation lectures – VU
 HCSC Careers Evening – Thursday
2 nd May
 Senior School Honours Night – 18 th
July
 Campus Tours during University and TAFE open day - August
 PPP Program – Victoria University
 SNAP Program – RMIT
 VTAC application process
 Valedictory Dinner
 Change of Preference
 VCE / VCAL Certificates Handed out – 19 th December

 Administers the application and selection process
 Undertakes scaling, calculates and distributes the ATAR
 All students are expected to complete a VTAC application. (Can act as a safety net, especially for those students focussing on moving into full time employment)
 Students need to purchase a VTAC guide, which lists and describes all tertiary course available. The VTAC guide will be available in newsagents from early July.
 TAFE certificate courses can also be made by direct application to the TAFE college itself.

 Students are able to make 12 preferences in order of priority, made up of both TAFE and University courses.
 There will be a three stage VTAC counselling process comprising of:
1) VTAC Information session for all students
2) Individual counselling appointment for every student
3) Internet session with staff from the Career Resource Centre for
VTAC application
 Change of Preference – After ATAR results are released there is an opportunity for students to change their preferences based on their results.

 Access and equity application - ongoing disadvantage throughout the course of your schooling
 Special Consideration – For circumstances occurring through Year 12 only
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Medical
Family isuues
 Applications for scholarships
 Applications to be completed online.

 Non-English Speaking background
 Recognition as an Indigenous Australian
 Difficult family circumstances
 Disadvantaged socio-economic background
 Under-represented schools
 Women in non-traditional course
 Personal disability or medical condition

 One pathway option is to go through SNAP:
Student A was really good with her studies throughout the year and became very unwell immediately before her exams she had put in a
SNAP application and International studies in RMIT accepted her.
Traditionally this course has an ATAR requirement of 95 however she had received 65
 Another pathway planning option is to do a PPP:
Student B wanted to become a teacher, which is a highly competitive course. The required ATAR of this course is a minimum of 65. This student got an ATAR score of 60 which was close given that we are an ‘under represented school’ but due to his PPP was guaranteed a place in the course.

 Alternative entry program at Victoria University for Year 12 students, based on a portfolio, not ATAR score.
 Available for ALL undergraduate degree courses and Vocational
Education Courses. However, to be eligible for degree courses, the student must achieve an ATAR score of 50.
 Designed for students who have a HIGH preference for one of
VU’s courses.
 Applicants are required to submit a portfolio of evidence that indicates a commitment to their proposed area of study.
 Over 85% of eligible students who applied through this program in 2012 were successful.

 Goals – study and career goals
 Work experience and references
 Community contributions
 Educational achievements
 School assessed work
 Explanation of why you want to pursue the course
 Evidence of your appropriateness for the course. Why should VU select you?

 The Schools Network Access Scheme (SNAP) is
RMIT’s non-ATAR based equity admissions scheme for under-represented schools. This means that selection through SNAP into RMIT programs is not determined by your ATAR score.
1.
Applicant statement
2.
School Recommendation

 In addition to the VTAC application process, students will be supported and assisted in looking for apprenticeships, traineeships, or full-time employment.
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Individual MIPs interviews
Resume building classes
MIPs sessions
Interview(s) with Student Pathways Manager
Job hunting skills classes

 All students will be contacted in 2014 to determine their initial destination from school, and again after 6 months.
 This allows us to provide ongoing support for students, particularly those who may be seeking employment.

 Open to students at recess, lunch time, after school, and in their spares. Students are welcome to pop in, or make appointments to see me during these times.
 Access to university and TAFE guides, course and employment information.
 Internet access is available for all students to use job search engines, university and TAFE websites, and general word processing to update resumes and application letters.
 Parents are invited to make appointments with their children for career counselling and pathway planning support.

What can Parents do?
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 Develop the partnership between parents, students and the school.
 Encourage effective communication with Teachers and
Coordinators.
 Encourage Goal Setting and Time management.
 Stay informed.

 Become involved in your child’s schooling.
 The best way for us to remember something is to teach someone else. Encourage your child to teach you about their work.
 Always remain calm.
 Encourage healthy eating, plenty of exercise and the importance of rest.

 Remind your child that they need a balance between their social life, part-time work, sporting commitments and school.
 Provide a quiet place for them to work without distractions.
 The other “AT RISK”

 Offer a range of programs for students.
 Study Skills
 B3 Available before school and after school each day
 Study Group in B3 (Wed / Fri)
 Time and stress management
 Goal setting
 Motivation
 VTAC counselling

 Ensure students have access to Special Provision at school and during exams when necessary.
 Provide students and parents (via the senior team and our student wellbeing team; Jane Williamson, Melanie Cousins,
Kirsty Warren & the new school Nurse Trish Worthington ) with counselling and personal support in times of need.